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Saturday, August 18, 2007

Michael Vick ruins it for other celeb Pit Bull Owners

I think it's sad what Michael Vick has done to the breed of Pit Bulls. I don't mean the inhumane treatment, for which I hope Vick pays dearly. We're talking about the fact he's reinforced the stereotype of Pit Bulls as naturally mean and dangerous dogs.

We know some Pit Bulls, and they are delightful creatures--happy, easygoing, and loyal. Many, many Pit Bull owners love to brag about their pets. And then along comes Michael Vick and his headlines, and now other celeb Pit Bull owners are reluctant to speak about their pets.

Michael Griffin is one of those Pit Bull owners. He is the Tennessee Titans' top draft pick in 2007 and is known for his love of his Pit Bulls. When he played in Austin, Griffin would give the media weekly updates about his dogs, how he looked for dog shows on the Internet and how he enjoyed breeding them.

Now, he won't chat about his love of the breed. Michael Vick has ruined it for him. It's sad to see, but hopefully loving and positive owners like Griffin will begin to salvage the Pit Bull's reputation by letting people know the breed can be safe when raised, treated, and bred appropriately.

1 Comments:

If these people are loving to their pets, and don't have 55 of them on their property, no one is going to bother them!

If there is anything good about the Michael Vick story, it is that there is an emerging increased awareness about animal cruelty and animal fighting. There is so much anger about this issue. If we channel it into a positive direction, hopefully, something good can come of it. However...

I watched Vick's public apology with my little son who USED TO wear Michael Vick jerseys to school. It is disturbing to think a certain percentage of the population is honestly going to be swayed by Michael Vick's "enlightenment" carefully crafted by his overpaid attorneys. Call me a cynic, but I don't believe a man who has been allegedly torturing animals since childhood coincidentally has a religious epiphany as a result of getting caught and losing his job. I hope I am wrong.

I think it is a sad commentary that we, as a culture, are using the Vick story to compare "What's worse?" "What's worse", we ask, "carelessly fathering illegitimate children, or dogfighting?". "Dogfighting or gambling?" "Dogfighting or rape?" "Dogfighting or racism?" "Dogfighting or hateful nationalism?" "Dogfighting or (fill in the blank)....?" The comparisons to dogfighting have been endless.

Dogfighting is one more piece of evidence our country is in need of a spiritual transformation (please note I said spiritual and not necessarily religious). Animals are sentient beings - they feel pain, and they suffer, just like we do. They are not more important, or less important than human beings, but like human beings, they are important, too.

Dogfighting pits one dog against another until one of them dies. The survivor gets his flesh torn off, ears ripped off, eyes pulled out, etc., and the reward for being "a winner" is to writhe in pain until the next fight. Enough said. The pictures make my flesh crawl. The losers are tortured, beaten, starved, electrocuted or drowned. For what? Because these poor creatures were unlucky enough to be born a dog!

Every major faith teaches its followers to be responsible stewards of animals and the Earth. Please help us get the word out that caring for animals, just like caring for people, is an important part of just being a decent person and citizen. If we make this a priority, there will be no more dogfighting horror stories, and no more pointless comparisons of evils. Let us all rise, together, to be better people than we are today, shall we?